A Long Time Coming, Much Needed Mental Health Days Could Be a Reality Soon in New York Schools
Facing a growing mental health crisis, schools are implementing mental health days. New York could be the latest state to join a growing list to offer them.
Fifteen-year-old Madeline Jennings juggles a rigorous course load at New York City’s Beacon High School with competitive travel softball. Her team practices three times a week and attends tournaments every other weekend. Having a packed schedule nearly every day — starting with school at 8am and getting home from softball practices after 9pm — Jennings finds herself needing a day off every once in a while.
The pandemic has only exacerbated the stressors teens face. Even though Jennings felt that she transitioned to high school well, she had limited interactions with teachers and peers, making her feel isolated and socially unprepared.
Her first year of high school was one of social distancing and mask mandates, both of which made it difficult to meet new people and build relationships. Now a sophomore, she feels like she’s found her place among peers, a year later. Her story isn’t an anomaly.
“It was definitely hard on my mental health.” Jennings says. “I already have anxiety so that was increased when I wasn’t able to be introduced to my whole grade when entering high school.”
In the decade preceding the pandemic, there was a 40% increase in young people who reported feelings of persistent sadness and hopelessness, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Since 2020, adolescent mental health has taken a disproportionate hit.
The CDC reported the number of emergency visits for suspected suicide attempts in adolescent girls, between ages 12–17, increased 50% from 2019 to 2021. Another report, prepared by the Child Mind Institute, a nonprofit that works to support mental health research, also showed that children and adolescents from low-income households were affected at a higher rate, due to economic stressors during an already stressful, isolating period.
According to a 2022 report from researchers at Harvard University, the main stressors for high school students include academics, social stress, family issues, trauma, and big life changes. Add economic stressors, such as working, and a pandemic to that list and we have a better picture of why students are stressing out.
With an increasing need for mental health resources for students, schools have been forced to come up with ways to combat this crisis. As of today, 12 states have implemented laws allowing students to take mental health days off of school without repercussions. Another four states have proposed bills in support of student mental health days. New York, with the country’s largest public school system in the city, is one of them.
Source:Verywell
While mental health in adolescents and young adults has been substantially declining for some time, the notion of sanctioned days off for mental wellbeing is fairly recent. The very first state to pass legislation in favor of mental health days was Oregon in June 2019. Virginia was the only other state to pass a similar law in 2019, another two passed laws in 2020, while the other 8 joined the list in 2021 and 2022.
In New York, legislators are hoping to achieve the same benefits for students. Brad Hoylman-Sigal, a New York state senator, has sponsored a bill that would allow students to take mental health days.
“We have a solemn responsibility to help our students — especially students in high-risk groups — live their most healthy lives, and sometimes that means taking a short break from the often heavy responsibilities of homework, classroom performance, and peer interactions,” Hoylman-Sigal said. “To properly equip our kids for adulthood, we must empower our kids to know themselves and their mental limits. To know that when tragedy or a mental health issue strikes, it’s OK to ask for a day off.”
The New York bill has been modeled directly after the Oregon bill, Hoylman-Sigal said, allowing for students to take five mental health days in a three-month period. It has been in the works for some time: originally conceptualized pre-pandemic, in 2019. The bill was last referred to the Education Committee of the New York legislature. If it is put into effect, students will be able to use mental health days as soon as July of this year.
“I think it’s interesting. They’d definitely have to be used in a smart way,” Jennings said. “If it’s just given to students, some teenagers may just use it to their advantage not to go to school. But then other kids would use them the right way, like if they really need a mental health day. I think I would use it, definitely.”
The benefits from giving students the option to take a mental health day go beyond just resting and recharging. These days off not only allow students to advocate for their own mental wellbeing but they also inform school officials which students might need additional mental health resources.
Maybe the most important byproduct from implementing mental health days is reducing the stigma around mental health. In a survey of 1000 American parents, conducted by Verywell in June 2022, 88% of parents said they either have allowed or would consider allowing their child to take a mental health day.
Source: Verywell
“I think destigmatizing mental health and providing support could benefit people at all stages of life,” said Jay Van Bavel, a psychology professor at NYU. “Mental health problems are rising and we should treat it the same as a physical health issue.”
Even more than needing time off to recuperate, experts say that students would also benefit from having more access to healthcare professionals. Over half the children in the United States who have a mental health disorder don’t receive the treatment they need, American Psychological Association reported in August 2021. And this is likely due to the shortage of appropriate psychologists. In fact, the same APA report stated that 28,560 additional psychologists are needed to meet the demand of children and adolescents with mental health disorders.
“There’s a growing recognition that mental health is just as important as physical health in young people’s development, but that’s happening just as mental health services are under extreme strain,” said clinical psychologist Robin Gurwitch, PhD, told APA in a mental health trend report earlier this year.
With an increased demand for mental healthcare services and limited psychologists available, a new bill now being pushed would allow school psychologists to practice outside of schools where appropriate. Manhattan Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal is the bill’s main sponsor. She’s making the argument that the answer to the psychologist-shortage is already within reach, if we just use the resources in schools outside of them, too.
The main pushback against the bill is that opponents argue school psychologists aren’t licensed in the same way that other practicing psychologists are. School psychologists typically have a master’s degree in a relevant field, while the requirement for practicing outside of a school setting is a PhD. In this scenario where school psychologists would be allowed to help students outside of the school property, the expectation is just to allow evaluations and counseling to students who might otherwise wait months just to see a licensed psychologist.
“I think increased awareness, social support and access to professional help is useful for students — especially given the high rates of depression and anxiety,” says Van Bavel. “We need to find ways to reduce mental health problems from arising in the first place. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
While this bill concerning school psychologists is an integral piece to the puzzle, it still has a long way to go compared to Senator Hoylman-Sigal’s. The option to take mental health days could be a reality later this year for New York public school students. This will be a huge step in the right direction for adolescents’ mental wellbeing — making mental wellbeing a priority.
“Teenagers now, because of social media and the pandemic, have made mental health awareness such a big thing that it feels good that it’s finally being recognized by schools,” says Jennings. “It would make my days much less stressful knowing I could take a day off.”
